Avista Submits 2013 Electric Integrated Resource Plan

SPOKANE, WA--(Marketwired - Sep 3, 2013) - Looking to the future, Avista Utilities, an operating division of Avista Corp.(NYSE: AVA), projects having adequate generating resources -- company-owned or under contract -- to meet customers' energy needs until 2020, according to the 2013 Electric Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) filed August 30 with Washington and Idaho state regulators. The plan details projected growth in demand for energy and the new resources needed to serve customers over the next 20 years.

In the 2014-2033 IRP timeframe, Avista anticipates customer growth of just over 1 percent, a decrease in projected growth from 1.6 percent that was noted in the 2011 IRP. In addition, the recommendations for new renewable resources from the previous IRP have been met with a 30-year purchased power agreement with Palouse Wind and the Kettle Falls Generating Station being qualified as a renewable energy resource under Washington state's Energy Independence Act.

"The IRP is developed with the help of a Technical Advisory Committee that is made up of customers, utility commission staff, consumer advocates, environmental groups, academics, utility peers, government agency staff and Avista's energy analysts," said Avista Utilities President Dennis Vermillion. "The goal is to develop a 20-year plan that meets customers' needs for safe, reliable energy through the responsible and cost-effective use of resources, both in the near and long term."

Some highlights of the 2013 IRP include:

• Demand response (temporarily reducing the demand for energy) is included in the Preferred Resource Strategy (PRS) for the first time and could provide 19 MW of peak energy reduction in the 2022 - 2027 timeframe.
  
  
• Energy efficiency (using less energy to perform activities) reduces load growth by 42 percent over the next 20 years.
  
  
• 486 MW of clean-burning natural gas-fired generation facilities are required between 2020 and 2033.
  
  
• Transmission upgrades will be needed to carry the output from new generation. Avista will continue to participate in regional efforts to expand the region's transmission system.
  
  

Utility commissions in Idaho and Washington will review the document for acknowledgement and will provide an opportunity for comment. The IRP is available in electronic form on the Avista Utilities web site www.avistautilities.com. 

About Avista Utilities
Avista Utilities is involved in the production, transmission and distribution of energy. We provide energy services and electricity to 362,000 customers and natural gas to 322,000 customers in a service territory that covers 30,000 square miles in eastern Washington, northern Idaho and parts of southern and eastern Oregon, with a population of 1.5 million. Avista Utilities is an operating division of Avista Corp. (NYSE: AVA). For more information, please visit www.avistautilities.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding the company's current expectations. Forward-looking statements are all statements other than historical facts. Such statements speak only as of the date of the news release and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations. These risks and uncertainties include, in addition to those discussed herein, all of the factors discussed in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2012 and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.

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